Rio men, Blue Raiders play to 3-3 draw

Rio Grande Sports Information
     PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. - The University of Rio Grande rallied from a two-goal first half deficit and forged a 3-3 tie with long-time rival Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) College, Saturday night, in the NAIA Labor Day Classic at the MOBA Soccer Complex.
     The RedStorm, ranked No. 21 in the latest NAIA coaches' Top 25 poll, moved to 1-1-1 with the draw.
     Lindsey Wilson, ranked 25th in the same poll and a former rival of Rio Grande when both were members of the Mid-South Conference, finished the night at 0-1-2.
     The Blue Raiders jumped to a 2-0 first half lead, scoring twice in a span of just under seven minutes.
     Dominic Ayella netted the first score of the contest with 25:19 left before halftime, while teammate Kenn Muendo found the back of the net with 18:26 remaining before the break. Jaland Larmond assisted on both scores.
     Rio Grande then rallied to tie thanks to a pair of unassisted markers.
     Junior Justin Jimenez (Alajuela, Costa Rica) scored with 15:47 left in the first half to get the RedStorm within 2-1 and sophomore Rafael Kawata (Sao Paulo, Brazil) had the equalizer just 2:41 into the second stanza.
     The momentum was short-lived, though, when Lindsey Wilson regained the advantage just 17 seconds later when Mao Wong scored off an assist by Michael Rempel.
     Rio tied the game again with 26:28 left to play when junior Daniel Christofi (Larnaca, Cyprus) scored via a pass from senior Scott Gray (Strathaven, Scotland) .
     That's how things stayed the rest of the way, although Gray hit the crossbar with a shot less than 30 seconds after the game-tying goal.
     The RedStorm finished with a 15-12 edge in shots overall. Both teams had six shots on frame.
     Senior Matheus de Campos (Brasilia, Brazil) recorded a trio of stops in net for Rio Grande, while Hugo Georges had three saves in net for the Blue Raiders.
     Rio Grande will finish play in the holiday weekend event Monday morning when it squares off with fifth-ranked Bethel (Ind.).
     Kickoff is set for 11 a.m.